Live Like We're Dying
by jessicuhxoo
Summary: Leaf and Gary have a heart to heart that defines their whole entire relationship.


**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon or the song I used, which is Live Like We're Dying by Kris Allen :)**

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_Yeah, we gotta start_

_Looking at the hands of time we've been given_

_If this all we got and we gotta start thinking_

_If every second counts on a clock that's ticking_

_Gotta live like we're dying_

* * *

"Pst! _Leaf!_" The voice was loud and irritating. Leaf shot a glance at her ceiling in frustration as she slammed the pillow into her face, hoping to block him out. Nope, he was still there. "Leafy, I gotta show you something. Come down!"

Mumbling irritable words underneath her breath, she made her way over to the window and hissed loudly, "Gary, can't you just go home already?"

Gary smiled innocently at her, blinking his eyelashes. "Nope," he answered loudly, "You really have to see this. I promise you will love it!"

Leaf pinched the bridge of her nose. Sometimes, it was really hard for her to believe that her best friend/neighbor was twenty-one.

"If it has anything to do with your _Pokémon _action figures, I'm not interested," she argued back with irritation.

He laughed quietly, shaking his head. "It has nothing to do with those," he then paused, suddenly frowning at her with his brows knitted together, "Don't you dare make fun of my collection! It's awesome!"

"I'll be down there in a sec," Leaf said with a sigh. She then slammed the window shut and turned to see her mother, awake from the sudden noise. "Did I wake you?" she asked her mother with an apologetic look.

"No, not at all." Her mother raised an eyebrow, her lips tightly locked together in place. "I'm just sleepwalking and I magically came here when you were talking so loudly to Gary."

Leaf licked her lips together, closing her eyes for a mere moment. "He came over because he as to 'show me something.' Sorry I woke you."

For a couple of moments, Leaf's mother didn't answer. She had her hands on the curve of her hips, and her eyes looked wide in the darkness of Leaf's room. A lot of people usually tell Leaf that she looked just like her. But Leaf never saw the actual resemblance.

"Leafy," she began in a low quiet voice, "you know Gary… he cares a lot about you." She paused before taking another breath and added, "A lot. Don't break his heart."

A small lump formed in Leaf's throat, making words disappear. "I know," she managed to choke out, "I wasn't planning to."

* * *

Gary spotted Leaf coming down from her stoop wearing a wool sweater over her flannel pajama pants. Instead of her fuzzy slippers, she managed to slip on a pair of her brown Ugg boots. As she made her way over to Gary's front lawn, he stood up and beamed.

"Hey," Gary said, still grinning at her. "Thanks for—."

"Gary, just show me what you had to show me," Leaf interrupted her voice sharp and cranky.

The smile didn't escape his face, even at her tone. He took hold of her hand and started running.

There was something about Leaf that always intrigued Gary. Maybe it was her attitude, and her usual tart behavior. Maybe it was the way she looked at things in a different light. Whatever it was, there was just always something beautiful about her. She was twenty, smart and pretty. He honestly wondered why she was still cooped up in this small town called, _Pallet. _She had an extraordinaire mind and she could honestly go anywhere she wanted to. But her heart was set here, in this small little town.

Gary, on the other hand was the complete opposite. Sure he was smart, but he always acted stupid. A goofball usually. He liked to mess around with people—mostly Leaf, but that's beside the point. She was like his personal project. He tried to spend as much time with her as possible, even if she thought he was irritating at times. _Pallet _was his home. But then again, home to him is wherever Leaf Green is.

"Gary, slow down!" Leaf screeched, trying to keep up with him. She stopped in her tracks, trying to catch her breath as Gary slowed down his speed.

They had reached a meadow. Further down, there was a lake with the moon's reflection glistening from the clear sky. If you stayed quiet, you could hear the Pokémon rustling around their habitat.

Leaf wrapped her arms around herself and looked around in awe of the beautiful, peaceful night. She then glanced at Gary with a curious expression, "How did you find this place?"

He smiled sheepishly as he glanced around the area. "Well," he responded, "I was helping Gramps find some new starters for new upcoming trainers and I came across it. I came here a couple of times, and I haven't seen anyone else come to this spot before, so I claimed it as my own."

Gary loved the quirky smile that started to make its way onto her face. She looked around for a bit, before settling down on the lengthy grass, hugging her knees to her chest. The moon sparkled down, lighting up the darkness around her. Gary grinned as he stared at her, thinking to himself at how beautiful she looked right now. But of course, he wouldn't tell her that. His ego wouldn't let him for some reason.

Leaf met Gary's eyes as he sat beside her. She rubbed her arm and grinned at him.

"You did well," she teased, nudging him a bit.

He smiled at her like the little child he was at heart. "Thanks. It wasn't easy. But I wanted to show it to someone who would actually care," he said with a grimace, looking away from her suddenly, as he became lost in thought.

Leaf shifted in her spot, feeling uneasy. "Then… why would you show me? I haven't really been a good friend to you lately. Especially since the explosion in the lab…"

Ah. The explosion. It was about time Leaf mentioned it. The explosion meaning the explosion at the laboratory. Specifically speaking, Professor Oak's laboratory. Gary and Leaf both worked there, helping Samuel Oak with newfound research and even taking care of all the Pokémon—mainly Ash's from all these different new and exciting regions, but that's a completely different story. Well to cut the long story short, Gary hadn't been really doing what he was instructed to do while his Gramps was away. He left Leaf to do all of the work, while he was trying to figure out his own theory of _Evolution_.

At first it was all just research and observing, but once he started putting different _evolutionary_ _stones_ together and trying to see if they worked on certain Pokémon did not go well for Gary. Thus, causing the whole explosion do to a very unhappy _Voltorb_. Luckily, no Pokémon were seriously harmed. Leaf was pretty peeved about the whole situation and Professor Oak wasn't too keen on the situation either. Gary wasn't allowed back in the lab for a couple weeks as punishment.

"You were mad for the right reasons," Gary exhaled finally. "I nearly injured a lot of Pokémon and people for my own selfish reasons. You could have gotten hurt…" he paused, the sound of a splash caused by probably a Magikarp was heard by the both of them. He then continued, "Sometimes, I know people don't take me seriously as a Professor. People think it's a joke just because I'm related to 'The Samuel Oak'. And it sucks you know? I mean yeah I joke around and act a bit foolish sometimes, but I'm really serious about my research. It isn't a joke to me. But I know that day I was stupid, especially because I was supposed to help you and I didn't even get Gramps permission…" he stopped speaking, letting out a heavy sigh.

Leaf chewed her bottom lip, an eyebrow slightly arched. "Gary it isn't that they don't take you seriously its just after all that happened… you didn't act upset," she clarified. "You weren't acting like it was a big deal or that it wasn't a serious matter. When it was. You acted like the same guy… who nearly tore my shirt to shreds in the first grade," she told him with a small frown on her face.

A dry laugh escaped his throat, "I was upset," he pointed out. "Sometimes, you can't really show your frustrations to the world. I couldn't handle the disappointment from my mom or my sister, especially Gramps. So I just acted like I was fine with what I did."

"Why?" she countered, the frown still visible. "I show everyone if I'm upset." She knew it was wrong. Leaf knew she shouldn't take her anger out on others, but sometimes, she didn't really have a choice. It hurt a lot and she knew that if she kept it inside her too long she would eventually explode.

Gary slowly swallowed. The moon reflected on him, his beautiful features portrayed in the contrast to the darkness. He grinned at her, with that lopsided smile of his. Showing a small dimple that formed around his lip. "We've only got 86,400 seconds in a day to turn it all around or throw it all away."

As Gary rose to his feet, Leaf did the same. She glanced at him with strange look.

"What in the world are you talking about?" she whispered to him quietly.

He turned to look into her eyes and for the first time, Leaf didn't see that immature child he could be sometimes. She saw the man reflected off of that, with a gorgeous smile and a charming personality. He had a mind keener than anyone else in _Pallet_. She knew how he always joked around and flirted with her. It always annoyed her, but she couldn't help herself but be amused by it. She always knew that Gary had a softer side that he never really shown anyone, and she couldn't help but feel like the luckiest girl in the world that she was the one who got to see him when he was like this.

"You gotta live like you're dying," he said grinning at Leaf's puzzled expression. "Don't settle in the past. What's done is done and all you can do is learn from your mistakes," he added quietly.

The words went straight into her heart, breaking the wall that was protecting it. She finally felt him make his way fully in her heart. She slowly felt his hand creep into hers, warm and cozy… as if it belong with hers. He interlocked their fingers one by one, and brought her body closer. She could feel his heartbeat moving along with hers simultaneously. The wind blew into her face, and Gary moved away the brown locks that fell before her eyes. He slowly leaned down, and placed his lips onto hers. He kissed her slowly, but gently and she felt herself kissing him back.

Leaf's cheeks flushed with color as she pulled away, but a slow smile grew onto her face as she looked up at him.

"C'mon," she said with a giggle.

"What?" he asked her with a laugh, his brows furrowing together showing the confusion written all over his features.

"Every second counts on the clock that's ticking," she said with a wink. She then pulled him with her hand, and began running.

They laughed, they ran and they lived. That night changed their whole entire relationship. It was the start of something new and moving on from the things that didn't go as they were planned. Sometimes all you need is one night with the person you love to find out what's really worth living for. Hold your head high. That clock's not going to wait for you.

* * *

_Like we're dying, oh, like we're dying..._

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**A/N: THE END! Here is a short one shot! I hope you enjoy :) Leave a review mmkay byeeeee~**


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